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- #21
Thanks all for the replies. Going to the alignment shop today to see where my caster is.
Best way to install caster shims? (1 Viewer)
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Mark W
Yep, I really don't really care that much I guess.
Customer picked up this '40 today. Called me when he got home to tell me he LOVED how it drove now, and that it totally ignored the ruts that used to lead it around by the nose.
Mark...
Add Skyjacker to your OME list to add 2 degree shine with a 2.5” lift. It’s awesome the customer was happy with your ‘wrenching’.
Question, did the customers rig have stock manual steering or was it power….something?
Mark W
Yep, I really don't really care that much I guess.
This particular rig is one of those very nice ones that seem almost original stock at first glance but with a lot of quality upgrades once you start to look closely. It has OEM manual steering right now, but I expect that retrofitted OEM PS or minitruck conversion might be in the works before too long.
Mark...
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- #25
Hey all,
At the alignment shop. Where should my caster be with the OME lift?
At the alignment shop. Where should my caster be with the OME lift?
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- #27
Thanks!!^^
Here are the specs below. Caster wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
What shims and center pins would be recommended?
Here are the specs below. Caster wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
What shims and center pins would be recommended?
Mark W
Yep, I really don't really care that much I guess.
That is bad caster. Any worse would be a nightmare to drive. Those numbers say that is sucks to drive by my standards and expectations..
You will need 4* shims to get close to OEM specs. More would be better, but I doubt you will find shims any steeper than 4*. Center pins may or may not be needed. But they are cheap. Have new ones on hand even if you intend to reuse yours.
Mark...
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4 degree would put you at about 1.5, right on the sweet spot. 2 degree minimum for sure.
Buy the 4* shims and take one to the hardware store. Get two grade 12.5 metric socket head cap bolts with heads that fit snug into the recessed hole in the shim and long enough to go through the entire spring pack. Also pick up two matching nylon locking nuts. Support the truck. Loosen the U bolts and lift the axle off the springs. Clamp the spring packs with C-clamps and remove the old pin and replace with shim and new pin. Back off the clamps. Do this on each side. Replace U-bolts and tighten. Done. Enjoy your new truck.
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- #31
Appreciate the replies.
Just went ahead and ordered the steel 4* shims from CruiserTeq. Will report back.
Just went ahead and ordered the steel 4* shims from CruiserTeq. Will report back.
@pb4ugo - circling back to your post here and I also just put in a 2.5" lift and having some minor wandering issues. Prior - have completely rebuild my front end, hubs, rag, etc. Truck was driving really nice before lift with all the new steering parts and aligned. After lift, just some minor wandering.
I used a cheap angle finder per your directions above (thank you!) - the pass side bottom end of bearing cap was not as present, but did my best. with my pics below, can you tell me if I am negative caster or positive here? Assume negative?
From these basic readings, was considering 4* degree shims to help put more positive into my front. I plan to go with 33x10.5x15 tires this summer (currently have 31's now).
Driver's Side - looking at back of wheel for reference
Passenger Side - looking at back of wheel for reference and my fat fingers
pb4ugo
SILVER Star
Looking at your pics we cant determine whether you have negative or positive caster because we don't know which way is the front of the vehicle.
Your drivers side pic appears to have 1.5 to 2* negative caster if the front of the vehicle is to the right, or positive caster if the frt is to the left. If the frt is to the left then you shouldn't need shims, if it to the right then I would install a 4* degree shim to get an approx 2* + positive caster angle. The stk setting 1*+. Imo, more than 1*+ is better up to about 5*. Positive and negative caster is the relationship of the upper and lower piviot points and their orientation from 90*. Neg caster can feel twitchy, a slight correction can seem like an over correction, or like you're chasing it. The slight ruts in the road can effect how it handles. You want positive caster.
It looks like you are using the bolts for the knuckles' inner seal retainer. The orientation of the bolt heads can effect your measurements slightly depending on your measuring on the flats or points of the hex head. Also there may be ever so slight variances in the bolt hole locations from knuckle to knuckle and there's no way to know if the bolt holes are parallel to the bottom of the machined surface of the knuckle. I try to get measurements from the bottom edge of the bearing cap surface. Like in my previous pic. I can't say they are 100% accurate but if you look at the pic below you notice the bottom of knuckle and the bearing cap mating surfaces are machined, so the upper and lower trunnion bearings are inline with each other. I do make the assumption that the bottom of the cap is pretty close to parallel to its' machined surface. I know its hard to get the angle finder to catch the edge of the cap. Your measurements may be close enuff. a 4* shim should work installed with the fat side towards the frt if the frt of the vehicle in your drivers side pic is to the right.
Your drivers side pic appears to have 1.5 to 2* negative caster if the front of the vehicle is to the right, or positive caster if the frt is to the left. If the frt is to the left then you shouldn't need shims, if it to the right then I would install a 4* degree shim to get an approx 2* + positive caster angle. The stk setting 1*+. Imo, more than 1*+ is better up to about 5*. Positive and negative caster is the relationship of the upper and lower piviot points and their orientation from 90*. Neg caster can feel twitchy, a slight correction can seem like an over correction, or like you're chasing it. The slight ruts in the road can effect how it handles. You want positive caster.
It looks like you are using the bolts for the knuckles' inner seal retainer. The orientation of the bolt heads can effect your measurements slightly depending on your measuring on the flats or points of the hex head. Also there may be ever so slight variances in the bolt hole locations from knuckle to knuckle and there's no way to know if the bolt holes are parallel to the bottom of the machined surface of the knuckle. I try to get measurements from the bottom edge of the bearing cap surface. Like in my previous pic. I can't say they are 100% accurate but if you look at the pic below you notice the bottom of knuckle and the bearing cap mating surfaces are machined, so the upper and lower trunnion bearings are inline with each other. I do make the assumption that the bottom of the cap is pretty close to parallel to its' machined surface. I know its hard to get the angle finder to catch the edge of the cap. Your measurements may be close enuff. a 4* shim should work installed with the fat side towards the frt if the frt of the vehicle in your drivers side pic is to the right.
Another option is to remove the front driveshaft from the axle side and take your angle measurement on flat side of the flange. It's only four bolts and it will only take a few minutes to get an accurate measurement.
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Sorry about that… yes, driver side picture has the front of the vehicle on the right side of the picture frame, and passenger has the front side of the vehicle on the left side of picture frame. So 1-2 degree negative caster.@pb4ugo - circling back to your post here and I also just put in a 2.5" lift and having some minor wandering issues. Prior - have completely rebuild my front end, hubs, rag, etc. Truck was driving really nice before lift with all the new steering parts and aligned. After lift, just some minor wandering.
I used a cheap angle finder per your directions above (thank you!) - the pass side bottom end of bearing cap was not as present, but did my best. with my pics below, can you tell me if I am negative caster or positive here? Assume negative?
From these basic readings, was considering 4* degree shims to help put more positive into my front. I plan to go with 33x10.5x15 tires this summer (currently have 31's now).
Driver's Side - looking at back of wheel for reference
Passenger Side - looking at back of wheel for reference and my fat fingers
And I also use that very, very small edge that you pointed out above when I took the rudimentary measurements and here’s a picture loosely to show you the edge that I used for the caster measurement. For the picture, I just stuck it on there. It has a built-in magnet, but when I measured by hand, I made sure it was completely flat across that surface and not touching the bolt ends.
Finally, to correct front negative caster, fat side of shim points to back or rig?
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pb4ugo
SILVER Star
Fat side to the front. Ref the sketch I posted to achieve positive caster.
Got it…my mind is running backwards at time
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- #38
Quick ? all,
In the middle of doing the shims.
The centering pin for my OME springs is smaller than the hole on the CruiserTeq 4* shims allowing for a bit of play in the shim. My OME centering pins and leafs are more like 5/16" and the hole on the shim is 3/8". Don't think I am drilling out the leaf pack. OK to run a 5/16" pin with the 3/8" shim? The head sits fine in the recess. Pics below of the OME pin in the CruiserTeq shim.
In the middle of doing the shims.
The centering pin for my OME springs is smaller than the hole on the CruiserTeq 4* shims allowing for a bit of play in the shim. My OME centering pins and leafs are more like 5/16" and the hole on the shim is 3/8". Don't think I am drilling out the leaf pack. OK to run a 5/16" pin with the 3/8" shim? The head sits fine in the recess. Pics below of the OME pin in the CruiserTeq shim.
Green Bean
SILVER Star
If I recall correctly, the 4 degree caster shims we got from Valley Hybrids came with new pins which were bigger than the OME pins. Therefore, I drilled the leaf packs. I don't know if there would be harm in running with the smaller diameter pins, but I think that in our situation we needed the extra length offered by the new pins.
